By Lana Maciel / Saturday, January 25, 2014

Two weeks ago, 128 men descended upon Melbourne Park, all with the same goal in mind: to outlast the rest of the field all the way to the second Sunday of the fortnight and claim the Australian Open trophy. And day by day, the numbers whittled down to 64, 32, 16, eight and four, as players were sent packing one by one, their quest cut short.

And then there were two.

On Sunday night, top seed and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal will take on a determined No. 8 seed Stan Wawrinka for the Australian Open title. On paper, the numbers are daunting. Wawrinka and Nadal have met 12 times in their careers. And 12 times, Nadal has claimed the win.

But for underdog Wawrinka, 0-12 means nothing heading into the contest.

"I don't care about having lost [12] times. It's more about playing Rafa," he said. "He's the No. 1, the best player. His game is quite tough for me, especially with a one-hand backhand. But I had some good matches last year against him, close ones. Before to beat Djokovic was the same. I was losing 13, 14 times before that. Just the fact that I'm always trying and I always think that I can change all the statistics, that's positive."

Indeed, breaking that 14-match losing streak to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday must have done wonders for Wawrinka's confidence. Perhaps Djokovic was just a hair below the level he was at this time last year when he beat the Swiss in that classic five-set match. But that's not to take anything away from Wawrinka's achievement. If anything, it shows how much better Wawrinka is this time around. After all, a win over Djokovic, even if he wasn't at his peak, was still far from an easy task. Wawrinka's win proved he has what it takes to beat any of the "Big Four" on any given night, possibly even in a major final.

That mental gain is certainly something he'll carry with him when he steps onto Rod Laver Arena Sunday night.

"I have more confidence in myself," Wawrinka said. "I know that when I go on court I can beat almost everybody, even in the big stage like in a Grand Slam."

As for Nadal the pressure is on him, as a former champion, to take the title.

But Melbourne Park is a place where he's struggled in the past, physically and emotionally, save for the one title in 2009. He missed the 2006 event due to a foot injury, and was forced to skip last year because of his ailing knees. In 2010 he retired midway through his quarterfinal match against Andy Murray, then fell in the same round the following year to countryman David Ferrer while playing through a muscle strain.

Needless to say, it's not the best track record Down Under for Nadal, who considers the Australian Open one of his favorite events. But he does have momentum swinging in his favor this year, as he recently won the warm-up event in Doha and currently sits on an 11-match winning streak.

He's also physically looking as strong as ever -- and Nadal insists the infamous blister is not a factor. He's quick, and he points to his movement and as the key factor in why he has been able to produce such great shot-making over the past two weeks. We certainly saw how effective it was against Roger Federer.

"I am moving quick. I am able to come back from a difficult situations, you know," Nadal said. "With great shots from the opponent I am able to keep producing power on the shots. And produce great shots from very difficult positions. That's because the movements are ready and because I feel power in my legs when I arrive in tough positions. I hit a few passing shots [against Federer] that if [I was not] quick and playing with confidence, I cannot hit those shots."

Against Wawrinka, Nadal will likely use the same tactic he's used time and again against Federer: target the high backhand to Wawrinka's one-hander. But to counter, the Swiss could benefit from taking the advice that his compatriot would possibly offer: take time away from the Spaniard and attack early and often - and watch out for that down-the-line pass!

But of course, it's all speculation and educated guesses from the outside. In their own minds, each has formulated a strategy for how to stop the other from getting ahead.

"He's serving unbelievable," Nadal said of Wawrinka. "He's hitting the ball very strong from the baseline. Is very difficult to play against him. I know it will be a very, very tough match. If I am not able to play my best, I think I will not have chances because he's coming to this match with a lot of victories and playing great."

Adds Wawrinka: "I know what I have to do. I know that I have to play aggressive, serve really well, and try to always push him. I'm playing my best tennis here; physically I'm ready."

The first and only other time these two men met at Melbourne Park (in 2007), it was their first ever head-to-head contest, which favored Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Something tells us that this time, seven years later, their Australian Open meeting won't be so one-sided.